Teen Literature

One conversation is all it takes to break a world wide open. Seventeen-year-old Macy Lyons has been through something no one should ever have to experience. And she's dealt with it entirely alone. On the outside, she's got it pretty good. Her family's well off, she's dating the cute boy next door, she has plenty of friends, and although she long ago wrote her mother off as a superficial gym rat, she's thankful to have allies in her loving, laid-back dad and her younger brother.

In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the port city of the Blessed Empire, 18-year-old ward boss Isoka enforces the will of her criminal masters with the power of Melos, the Well of Combat. The money she collects goes to keep her little sister living in comfort, far from the bloody streets they grew up on. When Isoka's magic is discovered by the government, she's arrested and brought to the Emperor's spymaster, who sends her on an impossible mission: Steal Soliton, a legendary ghost ship - a ship from which no one has ever returned. If she fails, her sister’s life is forfeit.

It has been two years since the Shift - when most technology stopped working, and the laws of physics changed. Humanity has been brought to its knees. Like other survivors, Noah Henson has heard rumors of the Aelves. Among other guesses, predatory aliens seem as good as any other theory for what caused the Shift. But for Noah, everything else takes second place to survival, sometimes even self-respect... or any sort of decency. Lawless, post-apocalypse America had forced Noah to make many difficult decisions, and he has never seemed to choose correctly.

Daphne's lucky enough to get Snow White for a teacher - she loves little people - but poor Sabrina's stuck with Mr. Grumpner and a class of mildly psychotic sixth graders. When Mr. Grumpner is found hanging in a spider's web, it is up to the Grimms to find the Everafter who did it. If only Sabrina can get over her distrust of all fairy-tale folk. But how can she trust those who just might be responsible for the disappearance of her parents?

When 14-year-old Will Burrows goes looking for his missing father, he discovers an underground world that time forgot. Ruled by a brutal class called the Styx, "The Colony" has not changed in a hundred years. Into this dark and mysterious place go Will and his friend Chester, unsure what they will find and oblivious to the dangers ahead. Before long their extraordinary adventure unearths a terrible secret - one that may cost them their lives.

One last laugh for the summer as it winds down. One last prank just to scare a friend. Bringing a mannequin into a theater is just some harmless fun, right? Until it wakes up. Until is starts killing. Luckily, Sawyer has a plan. He'll be a hero. He'll save everyone to the best of his ability. He'll kill as many people as he needs to so he can save the day. That's the thing about heroes - sometimes you have to become a monster first.

When Theo meets Kylee at the beach, it is love at first sight...but everything is about to change. As they share their first kiss, the ground trembles beneath them and a gigantic tidal wave strikes the beachfront, demolishing everything in its path. Theo, Kylee, and their friends now battle to stay alive as they realize everything outside their island is gone. The small group now faces a growing evil which threatens to make survival impossible. On Atlantic Island, there are no games....

Big Nate Flips Out: Everyone knows N-A-T-E does not equal N-E-A-T! And when Nate’s sloppiness gets out of hand, his best friend, Francis, is in serious trouble. Can Nate clean up his act, or will he flip out first? Big Nate: In the Zone: Nate’s not having the best of luck...in fact; he’s not having ANY luck. But with a little boost thanks to Chad’s lucky foot, suddenly good luck is everywhere Nate turns! Nate’s in the zone! But how long will it last?

A year ago, Sunny Nwazue, an American-born Nigerian girl, was inducted into the secret Leopard Society. As she began to develop her magical powers, Sunny learned she had been chosen to lead a dangerous mission to avert an apocalypse, brought about by the terrifying masquerade Ekwensu. Now, stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny is studying with her mentor, Sugar Cream, and struggling to unlock the secrets in her strange Nsibidi book.

Avi’s swashbuckling tale of murder and mutiny on the high seas has a fascinating twist: the heroine is a 13-year-old girl. In 1832, Charlotte Doyle boards a ship bound for America and is caught in a battle between a mad captain and his ruthless crew. If you’re looking for an action-packed adventure story for girls, you’ll find it in The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.

Nina Idi - a third child in a society where families are allowed only two children - has been betrayed by the boy she loved and arrested by the Population Police for exposing other alleged third children. Angry and confused, Nina knows only one thing for sure: She is innocent of the charges. But now she is faced with the most difficult choice of her life: Get three other prisoners to admit they are shadow children and be spared herself, or refuse to cooperate and be killed. The options are clear. The choice, Nina discovers, is not.

What is it like for a small flap-eared goblin herbalist to play the role of the Dark Sovereign, the main antagonist for Boundless Realm's hundreds of millions of players? What is it like to find one's self the standard bearer for an army of man-eating giants, cyclops, skeletons, ghosts, and other hellspawn, who don't give a damn about their modest little ruler? Our hero didn't desire such an unenviable fate, but there is no way back now. But the longer he plays, the better he understands that he is just a pawn in someone else's game.

It's Luka Kane's 16th birthday and he's been inside The Loop for over two years. Every inmate is serving a death sentence with the option to push back their execution date by six months if they opt into "delays", scientific and medical experiments for the benefit of the elite in the outside world. But rumors of a war on the outside are spreading amonst the inmates, and before they know it, their tortuous routine becomes disrupted. The government issued rain stops falling. Strange things are happening to the guards. And it's not long until the inmates are left alone inside the prison.

Who wants to be a superhero? Hope did, but she grew out of it. Which made her superhuman breakthrough in the Ashland Bombing, just before starting her freshman year at the University of Chicago, more than a little ironic. And now she has some decisions to make. Given the code-name "Astra" and invited to join the Sentinels, Chicago's premier super-team, will she take up the cape and mask and become a career superhero? Or will she get a handle on her new powers (superstrength has some serious drawbacks) and then get on with her life plan?

Sixteen-year-old sharpshooter Amani Al'Hiza never doubted she'd escape the miserable one-horse desert town where she was born. Getting out had always been the plan. But she never figured she'd wind up running for her life - with a boy wanted for treason. When Amani enters a disastrous shooting contest against Jin, a rakish foreigner, she has no idea of his connection to the ongoing war between the ruthless Sultan of Miraji and his exiled son, the Rebel Prince.

When Josie Jensen, an awkward 13-year-old musical prodigy, crashes headlong into newcomer Samuel Yazzie, an 18-year-old Navajo boy full of anger and confusion, an unlikely friendship blooms. Josie teaches Samuel about words, music, and friendship, and along the way finds a kindred spirit. Upon graduation, Samuel abandons the sleepy, small town in search of a future and a life, leaving his young mentor behind.

Annie McFarland is sick of being a shy nobody. A session at summer camp seems like the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself - gain some confidence, kiss a boy, be whoever she wants to be. A few days in, she's already set her sights on über-hottie Kyle. Too bad her fear of water keeps her away from the lake, where Kyle is always hanging out.

Several things about 14-year-old Georgia Nicolson's life are very wrong. Her bedroom smells like her little sister probably peed somewhere, but she can?t find where. Angus, her enormous cat, keeps terrorizing Mrs. Next Door's poodle. Dad's gone off to look for work in New Zealand. And one of her friends has rated Georgia's nose a zero on a scale from 1-10. But what's really driving her crazy is that Sex God Robbie doesn't give her the time of day.

Regan Earle was a robotics scientist that inadvertently caused the robot takeover of the world. When his last creation completes a decade-long plan to end his own life, he ends up surprised. Creation offers him a second chance to test his wits and cunning in another world. Fate, however, is fickle and Regan ends up as a Dungeon Core...with all his memories. Is the world of Murgin ready to face such a dungeon? Let's find out....

Most of us remember The Wizard of Oz as the film starring Judy Garland and Bert Lahr. But the film was based on an immensely popular early 20th century Oz series. In these novels, Oz is the utopian land beyond the rainbow where threats are turned back with valor and ingenuity. Their success is due to the way they induce children to look for the element of wonder in the world around them.